Abdul Baset Al Megrahi

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 1 March (WA 287), in which category of document described in the Cabinet Secretary's report fall (a) the letter from the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) regarding the medical tests which revealed Al Megrahi had terminal cancer, and (b) the commitment to a full read-out from the United Kingdom; and whether either document will be released in a redacted form.

Baroness Verma: The review of HMG papers was rigorous and comprehensive. No class of information was excluded from scrutiny. For the reasons set out in the Cabinet Secretary's report, the information referred to by the noble Lord is not being released.

Aviation: Regulations

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they propose to alter the flight time limitation regulations set by the Civil Aviation Authority.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether proposals recently published by the European Aviation Safety Agency will supersede the flight time limitation regulations made by the Civil Aviation Authority in the United Kingdom.

Earl Attlee: The European Aviation Safety Agency is currently consulting on draft implementing rules establishing flight time limitations for EU airlines. The final implementing rules will come into force in 2012. Once in force, the implementing rules will be directly applicable and will supersede the Civil Aviation Authority's existing requirements.

Banking: Bank of Scotland (Ireland)

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the vetting of senior bank officials at the Bank of Scotland (Ireland).

Lord Sassoon: Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is a subsidiary of Halifax Bank of Scotland plc (HBOS). The acquisition of HBOS in early 2009 by Lloyds TSB Group plc created Lloyds Banking Group (LBG).
	As part of the approvals process, the Financial Services Authority assesses the fitness and propriety of senior management exercising significant influence within the firms that it regulates. In the case of subsidiaries, it is the responsibility of the home state regulator (in this case, Ireland) to ensure that the firm's senior management is fit and proper in line with directive requirements. Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is an Irish business regulated primarily by the Irish financial regulator. The regulator publishes information on its supervisory processes, which is accessible at www. financialregulator.ie.

BBC: Local Radio

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances they are seeking from the BBC about the future of the BBC's local radio network; what information they have received about plans to merge stations and broadcasting output; and what role they see for local radio in their localism policy.

Baroness Rawlings: The Government have received no formal information from the BBC about plans to merge radio stations or make significant changes to their output, neither are we seeking assurances on speculation about the BBC's plans for its local radio services.
	In The Coalition: Our Programme for Government, we set out our intention to promote a strong and secure local media industry. Clearly local radio will have an important role in a strong and sustainable local media sector and will be considered in detail in the forthcoming communications review.
	The BBC is considering a number of options for savings. However, we understand that no decisions have yet been made and we are therefore unable to comment at this stage.

Benefits

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost last year of child benefit for those aged 16 and older; what was the cost of education maintenance allowances for those aged 16 and older; what are the eligibility rules for both payments; and in respect of how many people aged 16 and over the payments are made.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The cost in 2009-10 of child benefit for those aged 16 and older was around £2 billion, covering around 2 million children aged 16 and over.
	Child benefit is a universal benefit paid to most families with children who are ordinarily resident and present in the UK. Once awarded, entitlement to the benefit continues for as long as the claimant continues to be responsible for the child or young person for whom they are claiming. However, additional conditions of entitlement apply once a young person attains age 16: the young person must be following a course of full-time, non-advanced education or approved training. Entitlement normally ceases before a young person attains age 19, but payment may continue in order to allow a young person to complete a course of non-advanced education or approved training that they started before reaching age 19. Entitlement to child benefit ceases in all cases when a young person attains age 20.
	The cost in 2009-10 of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) learner payments was £533.6 million. EMA take-up is given by academic year: 646,633 young people received one or more EMA payments in 2009-10.
	The eligibility criteria for EMA were that a young person must:
	be aged between 16 and 18 at the start of the academic year;be enrolled on and attending a valid learning programme at a valid learning provider for at least 12 hours' guided study per week, for a minimum of 10 weeks;live in a household where the previous year's income was below £30,810, andmeet the residency criteria.
	Once assessed as eligible, the learner must continue to meet attendance, behaviour and attainment criteria that are agreed with the learning provider in order to receive their EMA payments.

Economy: Quantitative Easing

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will instruct the Bank of England to publish a paper on how they intend to reverse quantitative easing.

Lord Sassoon: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has operational responsibility for the monetary policy tool of quantitative easing through the asset purchase facility. It is the outlook for inflation that will guide decisions on the pace and timing of a withdrawal of monetary stimulus. The MPC has publicly made it clear that, when appropriate, it would reverse quantitative easing through a programme for pre-announced sales over a period of time. The sale of assets would be conducted in a manner consistent with maintaining orderly markets.

Energy: Biofuels

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will make an announcement about the 20 pence tax differential between sustainable biodiesel, particularly that produced from reclaimed cooking oil, and regular diesel.

Lord Sassoon: As confirmed in Budget 2011, the duty differential for used cooking oil biofuel will end as intended on 31 March 2012.

Homelessness: Rough Sleepers

Lord Shipley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that individuals and voluntary organisations giving hot drinks and food to rough sleepers are not prevented from doing so by local councils.

Baroness Hanham: We look to local authorities to work with voluntary organisations and those who are trying to help the homeless to find the best local solutions to tackle rough sleeping.
	We understand that Westminster City Council is considering carefully the response to its recent consultation on by-law proposals intended to stop outdoor soup runs in the Victoria area. By-laws are considered a measure of last resort.
	Volunteers play a key role in tackling rough sleeping across the country whether as charity trustees, as mentors or in helping to provide services. Providing food, particularly indoors, can be helpful if this links people into services that can support them off the streets and to rebuild their lives.

Inflation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions the Bank of England is taking to exert downward pressure on inflation.

Lord Sassoon: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England sets policy based on its judgment of the balance of risks to inflation in the medium term. The MPC's latest assessment of the balance of both upside and downside risks to inflation in the medium term can be found in the published minutes of its meeting in March on the Bank of England website.

Libya

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what planes were hired from the private airline sector for the recent removal of British citizens from Libya; at what cost; which planes had any technical problems; and for what duration.

Lord Howell of Guildford: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) organised 10 chartered flights between 21 February and 28 February to evacuate British nationals from Libya, including four to provide onward travel to the UK. In addition, one charter flight that had been chartered by BP was also used to evacuate British nationals. This corrects the reply my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave to the right honourable Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Douglas Alexander) on 7 March 2011 (Official Report, House of Commons, 7 March 2011, col. 840W), which stated that nine flights were organised, including three for onward travel to the UK.
	The provisional total cost of these flights was over £1 million. However, this figure will not he confirmed until we receive final invoices from the airlines. The first FCO chartered flight, a Boeing 757-200 was scheduled to depart from Gatwick Airport on Wednesday 23 February at 09.00 GMT but could not depart until 21.45 GMT on that day. This was due to a technical fault. The third FCO chartered flight, also a Boeing 757-200, suffered a technical fault. It was scheduled to depart from Stansted on 24 February at 13.15 GMT but actually departed at 16.50 GMT.
	The following chartered aircraft were used:
	three Boeing 757-200;
	two Boeing 737-300;
	two Airbus 320;
	one Boeing 737-800;
	one Boeing 737-700; and
	one Boeing 767.

Railways: Service Quality

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what reports they have received from independent passenger groups concerning the quality of train services; what were the findings of those reports; whether any differences were found between standard and first-class passengers; and whether they will take any such reports into account when awarding new franchises.

Earl Attlee: The Department for Transport receives the National Passenger Survey (NPS), which includes specific questions about the quality of train services from Passenger Focus twice a year. In addition, Passenger Focus conducts franchise-specific passenger surveys, which are used to inform the development of new specifications for rail franchises. The department does not currently use passenger satisfaction metrics from former or existing franchises when considering bidders' proposals for future franchises.
	The NPS along with other research undertaken by Passenger Focus is available on the Passenger Focus website at www.passengerfocus.org.uk.

Schools: Academies

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools, by type, have converted to academy status since the Academies Act 2010 was passed; and how many schools are forecast to convert by the end of the 2010-11 academic year.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Since the Academies Act 2010 was passed, 195 schools have converted to academy status. Of these, 142 are secondary, 49 are primary and four are middle deemed secondary schools. More schools are due to convert on 1 April 2011 and an updated list will be available soon after on the DfE website at http://www.education.qov.uktacademies/a0069811 /schools-submitting-applications-and-academies-that -have-opened-in-201011. This is a demand-driven programme that responds to school applications to convert and therefore we do not make forecasts.

Severe Winter Weather: Salt

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to put in place a strategic stockpile of 250,000 tons of salt before winter 2011-12 as recommended by the Quarmby Winter Resilience Review.

Earl Attlee: As the Secretary of State for Transport informed the House of Commons Transport Select Committee when giving evidence on 14 March 2011, the Government already have a strategic stockpile of road salt in excess of 250,000 tonnes and this will remain in place for winter 2011-12.
	It is, however, important that local highway authorities continue to take action to implement the recommendations from David Quarmby's reports, including his audit published in December 2010, to ensure that they are better prepared to cope with any future severe winters.

Sport: Sports Clubs

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans the Department for Communities and Local Government has to promote the benefits of the Community Amateur Sports Club scheme to local authorities.

Baroness Hanham: The Department for Communities and Local Government currently has no specific plans to promote the community amateur sports club scheme to local authorities, although we recognise this as an excellent opportunity for community-based amateur clubs to benefit from a range of tax reliefs, including gift aid.

Unemployment

Lord Shipley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the impact of Budget 2011 on youth unemployment levels over the next 12 months; and in particular (a) for those aged 16-18, and (b) for those over 18 but under 25.

Lord Sassoon: Youth unemployment rose by 100,000 between 2004 and 2008 and has risen by a further 250,000 since the start of 2008. Budget 2011 announced an extra 80,000 work experience places for young people and £180 million for up to 40,000 extra apprenticeship places for young people over the next four years, particularly through progression from the work experience programme.
	On 23 March 2011, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) released the official forecast for total employment and unemployment, updated for the Budget 2011 announcements.
	As the OBR sets out in paragraph 3.99 on page 72 of its March 2011 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (Cm 8036), it expects the International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment rate to peak at 8.3 per cent in the second quarter of this year. Table 3.7 of the OBR's publication shows that the ILO unemployment rate is expected to fall next year and in each of the following three years. The OBR has not published a forecast for unemployment broken down by age group.